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Programs

In addition to the Manufacturing USA program, there are a number of advanced manufacturing innovation initiatives aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the United States in advanced manufacturing. These programs support, supplement and integrate with Manufacturing USA to maximize their combined benefits.

About the Initiative: Launched in 2013, AMTech is a competitive grants program intended to establish new or strengthen existing industry-driven consortia that address high-priority research challenges impeding the growth of advanced manufacturing in the United States. The AMTech program funds broad participation across the value-chain including companies of all sizes, universities and government agencies. It is modeled on successful national efforts within various industry and technology sectors.

Through the competitive planning grants it offers, AMTech incentivizes the formation and strengthening of industry-driven technology consortia in areas of national importance in advanced manufacturing. Activities supported by Planning Awards include detailed technology roadmaps of critical advanced manufacturing technologies and associated long-term industrial research challenges.

Note: In FY2016 AMTech was merged into the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. No changes have been made to program operations regarding prior awards, and there are no current plans to hold a future AMTech competition.

About the Initiative: The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) program is an initiative designed to revolutionize the way federal agencies leverage economic development funds. It encourages communities to develop comprehensive economic development strategies that will strengthen their competitive edge for attracting global manufacturer and supply chain investments. Through IMCP, the federal government is rewarding best practices – coordinating federal aid to support communities’ strong development plans and synchronizing grant programs across multiple departments and agencies. Non-designated communities nationwide can learn from the best practices employed by these designated communities to strengthen American manufacturing.

Manufacturing USA brings together industry, academia and government partners within a growing network of advanced manufacturing institutes to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Each institute is a public-private partnership that focuses on promoting robust and sustainable manufacturing research and development in a specific, promising advanced manufacturing technology area.

The program advances American manufacturing innovation by creating the infrastructure needed to allow U.S. industry and academia to work together to solve industry-relevant manufacturing problems in research and development, technology transition, workforce training, and education.

About the Initiative: The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) is a multi-agency initiative designed to create a new era of policy, resources, and infrastructure that support U.S. institutions in the effort to discover, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials twice as fast, at a fraction of the cost.

Advanced materials are essential to economic security and human well being, with applications in industries aimed at addressing challenges in clean energy, national security, and human welfare, yet it can take 20 or more years to move a material after initial discovery to the market. Accelerating the pace of discovery and deployment of advanced material systems will therefore be crucial to achieving global competitiveness in the 21st century.

Since the launch of MGI in 2011, the Federal government has invested over $250 million in new R&D and innovation infrastructure to anchor the use of advanced materials in existing and emerging industrial sectors in the United States.

About the Initiative:The Report to the President Accellerating U.S. Advanced Manufacturing, produced by the Steering Committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership 2.0 (AMP 2.0) in October 2014 for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), calls for the creation of a mechanism to provide coordinated private-sector input on national advanced manufacturing technology research and development priorities. MForesight was established to implement that recommendation. It informs and promote regular and sustained communication and research coordination across the public and private sectors, provides federal decision-makers with timely access to top university and industry experts and responds quickly to requests from federal decision-makers for detailed input on nascent opportunities and priorities in manufacturing. These activities are designed to improve the coordination of federal advanced manufacturing technology and research and development strategies. The Consortium cooperates with the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO) of NIST, the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), and the U.S. Government Agencies that support advanced manufacturing to help provide the timely information needed to achieve that coordination. NSF is the program lead and is solely responsible for the solicitation and the resulting award. NIST, acting on behalf of the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, is the program co-sponsor with NSF and provides financial and administrative support to NSF.

About the Initiative: Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announced in May 2014 that the Obama Administration will build on the success of the National Export Initiative (NEI) by launching NEI/NEXT: a new customer service-driven strategy with improved information resources that will ensure American businesses are fully able to capitalize on expanded opportunities to sell their goods and services abroad.

NEI/NEXT will help more American companies reach more overseas markets by improving data, providing information on specific export opportunities, working more closely with financing organizations and service providers, and partnering with states and communities to empower local export efforts.

NEI/NEXT will be implemented through the Export Promotion Cabinet and Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), which consists of representatives from 20 federal departments and agencies with export-related programs. The Secretary of Commerce chairs the TPCC.

About the Initiative: The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a U.S. Government research and development (R&D) initiative involving the nanotechnology-related activities of 20 departments and independent agencies. The United States set the pace for nanotechnology innovation worldwide with the advent of the NNI in 2000. The NNI today consists of the individual and cooperative nanotechnology-related activities of Federal agencies with a range of research and regulatory roles and responsibilities. Funding support for nanotechnology R&D stems directly from NNI member agencies, not the NNI. As an interagency effort, the NNI informs and influences the Federal budget and planning processes through its member agencies and through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The NNI brings together the expertise needed to advance this broad and complex field—creating a framework for shared goals, priorities, and strategies that helps each participating Federal agency leverage the resources of all participating agencies. With the support of the NNI, nanotechnology R&D is taking place in academic, government, and industry laboratories across the United States.

About the Initiative: The goal of the National Robotics Initiative is to accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside or cooperatively with people. Innovative robotics research and applications emphasizing the realization of such co-robots working in symbiotic relationships with human partners is supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The purpose of this program is the development of this next generation of robotics, to advance the capability and usability of such systems and artifacts, and to encourage existing and new communities to focus on innovative application areas. It will address the entire life cycle from fundamental research and development to manufacturing and deployment. Questions concerning a particular project’s focus, direction and relevance to a participating funding organization should be addressed to that agency’s point of contact listed in section VIII of this solicitation.

About the Initiative: Recognizing that the competitiveness and job-generating ability of a nation is determined by its desirability as a place for businesses to operate, SelectUSA was created at the federal level to showcase the United States as the world’s premier business location and to provide easy access to federal-level programs and services related to business investment. SelectUSA is designed to complement the activities of our states—the primary drivers of economic development in the United States.

SelectUSA is housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce, which maintains a network of personnel throughout the United States and in nearly 80 countries, and is led by an Executive Director, appointed by the Secretary of Commerce.

SelectUSA is a convening authority of the Federal Interagency Investment Working Group and responds to specific federal-level concerns impacting the attraction and retention of business investment. The Obama Administration is committed to enhancing U.S. efforts to win the growing global competition for business investment by leveraging our resources and advantages as the premier business location in the world.

About the Initiative: The Sustainable Manufacturing Clearinghouse is an archived database which was created to provide U.S. companies with a central portal for information on programs and resources that can assist in enhancing competitiveness and profitability in environmentally sustainable ways.

The Sustainable Business Clearinghouse was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, with about 800 federal, state, and non-governmental resources. They include: case studies, compliance assistance, financial assistance, general information, how-to guides, metrics/assessment tools, research, tax incentives, technical assistance, training opportunities, and voluntary or partnership programs.

The MEP National NetworkTM is a unique public-private partnership that delivers comprehensive, proven solutions to U.S. manufacturers, fueling growth and advancing U.S. manufacturing.

Focused on helping small and medium-sized manufacturers generate business results and thrive in today’s technology-driven economy, the MEP National Network comprises the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), the 51 MEP Centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and over 1,300 trusted advisors and experts at more than 400 MEP service locations, providing any U.S. manufacturer with access to resources they need to succeed.

In 2017, the MEP National Network connected with 26,313 manufacturers, leading to $12.6 billion in sales, $1.7 billion in cost savings, $3.5 billion in new client investments, and helping to create and retain more than 100,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Since the Program was created in 1988, the MEP National Network's strength has been its partnerships. Through its collaborations at the federal, state and local level, MEP Centers work with manufacturers to develop new products and customers, expand and diversify markets, adopt new technology, and enhance value within supply chains.

The Network serves as a bridge to other organizations and federal research labs that share a passion for enhancing manufacturing and delivers a high return on investment to taxpayers. For every $1.00 of federal investment, the MEP National Network generated $27.20 in new sales growth and $27.30 in new client investment in FY 2017. This translates into $3.5 billion in new sales annually. For every $1,291 of federal investment, MEP helps to create or retain one manufacturing job.

After 30 years, the MEP National Network continues to innovate, meeting the challenge of developing new programs, services, and partnerships to help manufacturers flourish in the 21st century. MEP is a part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a U.S. Department of Commerce agency.